The Guttershttp://www.the-gutters.com
A Parody of the Comic Book IndustryTue, 23 Dec 2014 05:00:54 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.0.1The Completely Finite Secret Convergence War Crisis – Part 5http://www.the-gutters.com/comic/565-richard-clark/
http://www.the-gutters.com/comic/565-richard-clark/#commentsTue, 23 Dec 2014 05:00:54 +0000http://www.the-gutters.com/?post_type=comic&p=4135
Here we are, friends. The end of the road. First, some business: As mentioned last week, Regarding cameos, if you sent us a headshot your cameo will be fulfilled and signed prints mailed out after the holidays. If you didn’t […]]]>

Here we are, friends. The end of the road. First, some business:

As mentioned last week, Regarding cameos, if you sent us a headshot your cameo will be fulfilled and signed prints mailed out after the holidays. If you didn’t send a headshot, please contact support@blindferret.com and we will go from there!

The Gutters Big F%&K-Off Edition II: F%&K-Off Harder (working title) will be available in 2015. No exact timeline yet, but between BFO 1 and BFO 2 the whole saga will be collected.

Now, on to the sappy shit.

Where to begin, really? Praise for the outstanding artists that we’ve seen and worked with over the years? Emotional thanks to everyone who’s been a long time or short time reader? Shout outs to the publishers, writers, artists and fans who gave us so much great stuff to work with over the years?

I don’t think there’s really any good place to start (or finish for that matter), so let me just say thanks to everyone. Thanks for reading along in our little experiment. We set out to make fun of things that needed making fun of and I think we did a decent job at that. If you’ve ever giggled, snorted or rolled your eyes at a Gutters page, then we’ve done our job.

What’s next? Well, You can find more of Ed’s great colors over at LOOKING FOR GROUP, where he collaborates with Sohmer. Speaking of Sohmer, in addition to LFG, you can read LEAST I COULD DO for more of his antics. Dave’s work is inside and out of about a million of your favourite comics and myself, for the moment you can check out VIRGA, a world unlike any other.

So on behalf of Sohmer, Ed, Dave, Rus, Rich, Lar, Will, Tyler, over 300 artists and anyone else who’s ever contributed, thank you so much for reading. As I’ve said before, Gutters has always been a labor of love and it ends the same way. With a little labor and a lot of love.

Finishing things up for us is the Gutters Record-holding Richard Clark:

Born in a crossfire hurricane (actually Cleveland, OH), Richard P. Clark’s illustration career began in 1993 while still an undergraduate at The Columbus College of Art and Design. Since then, he’s worked for a wildly varied list of clients in several industries-among them HBO, Playboy, The Wall Street Journal and Alcoholics Anonymous. He’s been finding work again in the Comic Industry, including a recent job for Dark Horse providing finishes over Darick Robertson’s breakdowns for The Guild-Vork comic. He’s hoping this recent turn into the comic lane sticks as there are literally scores of stories he’d like to unleash on the world. Mr. Clark currently resides in Upstate NY after a 10-year tour of duty in Brooklyn with his wife, daughter and a goofy dog named Barnaby.

]]>http://www.the-gutters.com/comic/565-richard-clark/feed/0The Completely Finite Secret Convergence War Crisis – Part 4http://www.the-gutters.com/comic/564-richard-clark/
http://www.the-gutters.com/comic/564-richard-clark/#commentsFri, 19 Dec 2014 05:00:37 +0000http://www.the-gutters.com/?post_type=comic&p=4129
**AN UPDATE: This was to be addressed in the next page, but regarding cameos, if you sent us a headshot your cameo will be fulfilled and signed prints mailed out after the holidays. If you didn’t send a headshot, please […]]]>

**AN UPDATE: This was to be addressed in the next page, but regarding cameos, if you sent us a headshot your cameo will be fulfilled and signed prints mailed out after the holidays. If you didn’t send a headshot, please contact support@blindferret.com and we will go from there!**

KA-POW!

All right friends, I promised you something big with today’s page and I do not want to disappoint, so here goes.

With today’s penultimate chapter of our Mega-Event, I bring you the announcement that next Tuesday (the 23rd)’s Gutters page will not only wrap up our story, but it will also be the final Gutters page.

There comes a point in every creative endeavour when you have to take a step back and say “are we still doing this for the right reasons?” Given the financial pressures of Gutters, the time and effort that goes into it and, frankly, the absolutely ridiculous state of the comics industry right now, it became clear to us that it’s time to say goodbye. It’s a bummer of a thing to have to sit down and do, but it’s the call we had to make.

I could not be more proud of every script, page and book that this project has produced. Working with Sohmer, Ed, Dave, Rus, Rich, Lar and the metric ton of incredible artists involved in Gutters has been the most fun and satisfying thing I’ve ever done in comics. I’m so happy to have been involved and seen people’s reactions to pages as well as a lot of our artist go on to big projects with major companies.

So, I invite you now, the Gutters fans, whose support we cannot ever thank you enough for, to join us next week to laugh, cry and say g’bye.

Shattering our realities one more time is Richard Clark:

Born in a crossfire hurricane (actually Cleveland, OH), Richard P. Clark’s illustration career began in 1993 while still an undergraduate at The Columbus College of Art and Design. Since then, he’s worked for a wildly varied list of clients in several industries-among them HBO, Playboy, The Wall Street Journal and Alcoholics Anonymous. He’s been finding work again in the Comic Industry, including a recent job for Dark Horse providing finishes over Darick Robertson’s breakdowns for The Guild-Vork comic. He’s hoping this recent turn into the comic lane sticks as there are literally scores of stories he’d like to unleash on the world. Mr. Clark currently resides in Upstate NY after a 10-year tour of duty in Brooklyn with his wife, daughter and a goofy dog named Barnaby.

See you back here one more time, friends.

-Moss

]]>http://www.the-gutters.com/comic/564-richard-clark/feed/0The Completely Finite Secret Convergence War Crisis – Part 3http://www.the-gutters.com/comic/563-richard-clark/
http://www.the-gutters.com/comic/563-richard-clark/#commentsTue, 16 Dec 2014 05:00:11 +0000http://www.the-gutters.com/?post_type=comic&p=4120
I imagine it must eat up a lot of their day, the meddling and such. So, we have reached the halfway point in our little tome and you may be wondering what the hell it’s all about. I know I […]]]>

I imagine it must eat up a lot of their day, the meddling and such.

So, we have reached the halfway point in our little tome and you may be wondering what the hell it’s all about. I know I am and hell, I know what it’s about.

So with that said, be sure and stop by on Friday for the penultimate chapter in our tale. It’s going to be big.

Bringing us closer to climax (in terms of the story) is once again, Richard Clark:

Born in a crossfire hurricane (actually Cleveland, OH), Richard P. Clark’s illustration career began in 1993 while still an undergraduate at The Columbus College of Art and Design. Since then, he’s worked for a wildly varied list of clients in several industries-among them HBO, Playboy, The Wall Street Journal and Alcoholics Anonymous. He’s been finding work again in the Comic Industry, including a recent job for Dark Horse providing finishes over Darick Robertson’s breakdowns for The Guild-Vork comic. He’s hoping this recent turn into the comic lane sticks as there are literally scores of stories he’d like to unleash on the world. Mr. Clark currently resides in Upstate NY after a 10-year tour of duty in Brooklyn with his wife, daughter and a goofy dog named Barnaby.

Be sure and join us on Friday, friends!

-Moss

]]>http://www.the-gutters.com/comic/563-richard-clark/feed/0The Completely Finite Secret Convergence War Crisis – Part 2http://www.the-gutters.com/comic/562-richard-clark/
http://www.the-gutters.com/comic/562-richard-clark/#commentsFri, 12 Dec 2014 05:00:35 +0000http://www.the-gutters.com/?post_type=comic&p=4111
I said it was going to be something special, didn’t I? Like a lot of comic fans, I often sit around and think “Hey… I wonder what Jim Lee is doing right now?” A large part of me hopes that […]]]>

I said it was going to be something special, didn’t I?

Like a lot of comic fans, I often sit around and think “Hey… I wonder what Jim Lee is doing right now?” A large part of me hopes that he’s in a sunbeam somewhere, blissfully napping. Or maybe sitting by the window, staring out at the waves crashing against a beach. Or even chasing the light of a laser-pointer, much to the delight of his friends and family.

Yeah, OK, I may think Jim Lee is some kind of cat. But think about it, it’s a theory that actually kinda fits with his art style and also how long it takes to get said art.

Regardless, I like that dude and I hope he’s enjoying whatever bit of catnip he’s gotten into.

Part Two of our tale comes to us from the same place as Part One, Mr. Richard Clark:

Born in a crossfire hurricane (actually Cleveland, OH), Richard P. Clark’s illustration career began in 1993 while still an undergraduate at The Columbus College of Art and Design. Since then, he’s worked for a wildly varied list of clients in several industries-among them HBO, Playboy, The Wall Street Journal and Alcoholics Anonymous. He’s been finding work again in the Comic Industry, including a recent job for Dark Horse providing finishes over Darick Robertson’s breakdowns for The Guild-Vork comic. He’s hoping this recent turn into the comic lane sticks as there are literally scores of stories he’d like to unleash on the world. Mr. Clark currently resides in Upstate NY after a 10-year tour of duty in Brooklyn with his wife, daughter and a goofy dog named Barnaby.

Have a great weekend, everyone! See you back here for Part 3 on Tuesday!

-Moss

]]>http://www.the-gutters.com/comic/562-richard-clark/feed/0The Completely Finite Secret Convergence War Crisis – Part 1http://www.the-gutters.com/comic/561-richard-clark/
http://www.the-gutters.com/comic/561-richard-clark/#commentsTue, 09 Dec 2014 05:00:49 +0000http://www.the-gutters.com/?post_type=comic&p=4105
Hello friends! I am back from the land of the dimmed lights and itchy eyeballs. Thank you all for your nice words and comments, things are on the mend now and I have returned with something quite special. You may […]]]>

Hello friends! I am back from the land of the dimmed lights and itchy eyeballs. Thank you all for your nice words and comments, things are on the mend now and I have returned with something quite special.

You may notice that there is a “Part 1″ in the title of today’s page as well as a dubious little caption box at the bottom of today’s page that says “to be continued…”

That is because we are about to embark on the biggest, multi-part-est, most epic-est, earth-changing-est, and dare I say, silliest, Gutters story to date. No hyperbole, just the greatest story that the medium has ever seen.

So, please join us as we embark on something that I think is going to be a lot of fun and change things forever. No, really.

Our guide on this journey is the one and only, Gutters-record-holding, Richard Clark:

Born in a crossfire hurricane (actually Cleveland, OH), Richard P. Clark’s illustration career began in 1993 while still an undergraduate at The Columbus College of Art and Design. Since then, he’s worked for a wildly varied list of clients in several industries-among them HBO, Playboy, The Wall Street Journal and Alcoholics Anonymous. He’s been finding work again in the Comic Industry, including a recent job for Dark Horse providing finishes over Darick Robertson’s breakdowns for The Guild-Vork comic. He’s hoping this recent turn into the comic lane sticks as there are literally scores of stories he’d like to unleash on the world. Mr. Clark currently resides in Upstate NY after a 10-year tour of duty in Brooklyn with his wife, daughter and a goofy dog named Barnaby.

Enjoy the week, friends! It’s going to be one to remember!

-Moss

]]>http://www.the-gutters.com/comic/561-richard-clark/feed/0I Can See Clearly Now, Sort Ofhttp://www.the-gutters.com/comic/560-ethan-nicolle/
http://www.the-gutters.com/comic/560-ethan-nicolle/#commentsFri, 05 Dec 2014 05:00:18 +0000http://www.the-gutters.com/?post_type=comic&p=4100
Hello friends! So, on Tuesday I had what was supposed to be a small procedure on my eyes done. It’s called Crosslinking and it’s supposed to stop the errosion and deformation of my corneas or something like that. Why am […]]]>

Hello friends! So, on Tuesday I had what was supposed to be a small procedure on my eyes done. It’s called Crosslinking and it’s supposed to stop the errosion and deformation of my corneas or something like that.

Why am I telling you this?

Well, because here it is Friday and I’m just now starting to be able to see again. Initially, it was supposed to be done and healed by Wednesday, but it turns out my eyes didn’t take to kindly to this procedure and I’ve been under a blanket in the dark recesses of my house like Gollum, unable to see or spend much time in the light.

Thankfully, things are starting to get better now and I can at least make out the shapes of words and letters and not be reduced to tears by my own computer screen. So, needless to say it was a little difficult to get things together and regular pages will resume on Tuesday.

Not wanting to leave you completely empty handed though, I pulled another sketch from SDCCs-Past and Ed and Dave were kind enough to put it together as a page while I sobbed in the corner.

I’m sure you’re all familliar with Axe Cop, Ethan Nicolle and his then-5-year-old brother Malachai’s international sensation. Ethan is a great guy, really fun to talk to and he was nice enough to doodle up their titual character (Surfing on a dolphin no less!) for us at an SDCC a couple of years ago.

So with all that said, I do apologize for the lack of page today. I hope you all have a great weekend and we’ll see you here bright (but hopefully not too bright) and early Tuesday!

-Moss

]]>http://www.the-gutters.com/comic/560-ethan-nicolle/feed/0The Only Real Warhttp://www.the-gutters.com/comic/559-rob-dumo/
http://www.the-gutters.com/comic/559-rob-dumo/#commentsTue, 02 Dec 2014 05:00:44 +0000http://www.the-gutters.com/?post_type=comic&p=4092
Look, I won’t bullshit you. There isn’t some huge logical reason or crazy Marvel/Star Wars crossover rumor that brought about today’s page. What it boils down to is that I feel Star Wars has the power to bring people together […]]]>

Look, I won’t bullshit you. There isn’t some huge logical reason or crazy Marvel/Star Wars crossover rumor that brought about today’s page. What it boils down to is that I feel Star Wars has the power to bring people together and I’m really not looking forward to Secret War. That’s it, plain and simple.

Now, as for the Star Wars teaser that this page centers around, goodness gracious! my heart legit skipped a beat when I saw that Falcon fly.

The biggest bone of fanboy/girl contention seems to be the hilted lightsabre. All right, I get it, there’s potential to hurt one’s self with a laser-hilted sword. But I simply say this: There was plenty of potential to lose one’s hand with the traditional lightsabre too (as we saw time and time again). If this new person can handle the Force, then chances are they’re pretty adept at handling their lightsabre too. If not, think of all the hilarity that will ensue.

Regardless of it all, it was super-exciting to see the teaser and also to see so many people enjoying the teaser. Hell, it even prompted me to add Marvel’s new Star Wars #1 to my pull list. Star Wars is about to become a story that spans three generations of fans and that’s a pretty cool thing.

Now someone invent time travel and get me to December 2015.

Today’s trip to a galaxy far, far away comes to us from Rob Dumo:

Rob Dumo is a comic artist from upstate New York between Buffalo and Rochester. He’s best known for his work on Zenescope’s Robyn Hood and Broken Icon Comics’ Nightmare Unknown. Rob also serves as Art Director for Broken Icon.

Hope the week is good to you, friends!

-Moss

]]>http://www.the-gutters.com/comic/559-rob-dumo/feed/0Maybe It’s A Surprise?http://www.the-gutters.com/comic/558-jeff-mccomesy/
http://www.the-gutters.com/comic/558-jeff-mccomesy/#commentsFri, 28 Nov 2014 05:00:36 +0000http://www.the-gutters.com/?post_type=comic&p=4085
Hey! Don’t forget, as Part of our Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale: Get’em while they’re hot! With a lot of the superheroes that we know and love having first seen the light of day during the same time periods, it can […]]]>

The other thing is that Comic Book Anniversaries (like a lot of comic book stuff) are pretty open to interpretation. I mean, which anniversary to we celebrate? The first appearance of Jay Garrick in the Golden Age? Barry Allen in the Silver Age? or is it the New 52 Flash, who’s a whopping 3.5 years young. There’s lots of things to consider.

Personally, I like it when comic companies celebrate the legacy and heritage of the characters they manage. I’m a bit of a history buff and I love hearing about both the cynicism and innocence that a lot of our superhero idols were born out of.

In terms of forgetting the Flash’s birthday though, If I was DC I’d make a thing of it and instead of Flash tribute covers, have one whole month of gag covers featuring people forgetting the Flash’s birthday or trying to hastily make up for it.

Now that’s innovation!

Today’s John Hughes homage comes to us from Jeff McComesy:

Jeff McComsey is the artist/writer of the upcoming ogn MOTHER RUSSIA as well as editor in chief of the historical zombie anthology and New York Times Best Seller FUBAR, now into it’s fourth volume. Primarily Jeff spends his time illustrating funny books and anything else that comes within arm’s reach. When he’s not chained to his desk drawing pages, he’s chained to his desk drawing Game of Thrones fan comics.

Have a good weekend, friends!

-Moss

]]>http://www.the-gutters.com/comic/558-jeff-mccomesy/feed/0It’s Going To Happen, Isn’t It?http://www.the-gutters.com/comic/557-david-namisato/
http://www.the-gutters.com/comic/557-david-namisato/#commentsTue, 25 Nov 2014 05:00:15 +0000http://www.the-gutters.com/?post_type=comic&p=4079
All right, before everyone get’s on my case about taking another shot at Deadpool, let me just say that I worry about the same thing happening with the Jersey Shore tape library and old WCW pay-per-views. Now, as far as […]]]>

All right, before everyone get’s on my case about taking another shot at Deadpool, let me just say that I worry about the same thing happening with the Jersey Shore tape library and old WCW pay-per-views.

Now, as far as Deadpool: Paws actually goes, I’ll be honest and say that I’ve got a bit of a morbid curiosity about these Marvel prose novels. When I was a kid, I read Roger Stern’s Death of Superman novelization (mainly because I hadn’t discovered girls yet, or at least girls that would talk to me). It was a fun story, a good summation of a very long comics event. Aside from that though, I’ve never really read any of the novel adaptations of comic characters and stories.

So, with that said, I pose the question to you, my friends: Have you ever read any of these? Are they any good? Or just a rehashing? Sound off in the comments.

I’m genuinely curious, not only in terms of what it means for comic characters, but I’ve also come to realize it’s been over a year since I read a book without pictures in it (not that there’s anything wrong with that) and maybe it’s time to break out the reading lamp once more.

Today’s page comes to us from friend of the family, David Namisato:

David Namisato is an illustrator in Toronto, Canada. David is currently working on two creator-owned comics, a fantasy adventure series called “The Long Kingdom” and a Japanese language comic strip called “Mark to Minna” (English: Mark and the Gang).

Have a great week, everyone!

-Moss

]]>http://www.the-gutters.com/comic/557-david-namisato/feed/0Know Your Audiencehttp://www.the-gutters.com/comic/556-doug-hills/
http://www.the-gutters.com/comic/556-doug-hills/#commentsFri, 21 Nov 2014 05:00:09 +0000http://www.the-gutters.com/?post_type=comic&p=4073
I have one question, and one question only when it comes to the return of Aquaman’s mother: Why do she and Mera appear to be the same age? Aside from that though, it’s just common courtesy when letting the world […]]]>

Aside from that though, it’s just common courtesy when letting the world know you have good news to be sure and share it with the right people. So, in that light, I know you Gutters Faithful are the right people for me to share this bit of news with:

Our amazing colorist, Ed has recently launched a kickstarter to get some cash for a project he and Gutters Alum Jeff Dabu have put together. It’s called Season of The S.H.A.R.K. and it looks pretty badass! You can check out the campaign here along with a preview of issue #1! I highly urge you to throw a few bucks at this, not only because Ed’s the best, but because Jeff Dabu is a stellar artist and they are offering some very cool rewards!

So with that said, I’m going to start a weekend.

Today’s page comes to us from the one and only Doug Hills:

Doug Hills has been drawing comics for himself and for others since about 2001. He has also dabbled in writing guide books about the art program, Manga Studio. He wrote Manga Studio For Dummies in 2008, and is currently working on a new book covering Manga Studio 5. Doug is the artist/co-creator of the webcomics Place Name Here and Chibi Cheerleaders From Outer Space (with his wife, Stacey Hills). He has worked on several independent comics, including the short story King Pete (with Josh Flanagan and Jordan Boyd), and a four-issue series currently in development, Dixon’s Notch (with Josh Flanagan and Charles Pritchett) and is a founding member of Ten Ton Studios. Doug was also a professional wrestler at one point in his life.